Beggars can't be choosers
I'm aiming for a Summer/Fall 2014 start in consulting, many months ago I had a phone conversation with an alumni who is a partner in the accounting wing of a big 4 firm. He said to get back in touch when it's closer to the start date.
I emailed him last week to start up the conversation, he emailed me back today asking me if I have a "technology/computer background" or if I have any interest in that side of the Advisory practice.
I don't really have any interest in that, would prefer strategy and have no coding/technology etc. experience. But I'm already 2 years out of school (in a teaching fellowship program) and he's using his contacts in the advisory side (since he works in the accounting side) so it seems like he's going out on a limb for me. So I feel like I'm in a "beggars can't be choosers" type of situation.
Do any of you have any advice for how to respond? Should I say I'm open to it, but prefer "XYZ section" I'm worried I'll appear ungrateful...
Advisory practice at big banks is a bit like ibanking and usually invovles a lot of strategy since you may be up against some big banks. The background may be for the industry rather than hard coding skills
Thanks so much for the advice Merge, I should have clarified, a big 4 accounting firm if that makes a difference.
So any help on a sample response?
Mr. XYZ
Thank you very much for getting back to me. While I'm certainly open to exploring the technology and computing sectors, I don't have much hands on experience.
I'm interested in the XYZ field.
Thanks -My name
????
I would wordsmith it to be more that advisory is the career for you. Don't give them the impression that you have one foot out the door. They can teach you the hard skills but they wont make that investment unless they believe you're fully committed to the firm. Research the firm, especially the advisory and what exactly the advisory practice (M&A, restructuring, etc.). Maybe even see if you can find a deal they recently did.
Now going back to your response, and this is purely a suggestion, feel free to change it:
Mr. XYZ
Thank you very much for getting back to me. Advisory is a career path that I've been exploring. Although I do not have in depth knowledge about the tech sector, it has been an industry that highly interests me. I would love to pursue the opportunity in this field.
Thanks -My name
Bump, any advice is much appreciated
I like the above comments, you can hedge it a little more if you'd like. Just make sure to appear grateful while addressing upfront it isnt something you had previously considered/been interested in.
Thanks so something along the lines of "Thank you very much for responding, I appreciate your help. To be honest, I've never really considered that line of the advisory practice, but I'm certainly open to it. My only experience in technology was really a couple of weeks in a coding course."
And that's it? Like I said I want to appear greatful, but I really have almost no interest
One last bump before I send this off in the morning
By the way. He's probably asking about tech/computing experience because a lot of the advisory jobs at Big 4 firms (non-strategy) are due diligence projects. He might be interested in putting you on a team that focuses on IT due diligence or risk. To be honest, IT DD requires absolutely no knowledge of tech/computing. You just need to be good at Googling and reading lists of assets. No way will you ever be asked to code. Maybe to look at/find bugs in a system (easy peasy), but never to code. Why would a consultant ever code.......
Thanks for the advice chic, so it sounds like it's more "business skills" that are needed for an IT project as opposed to actual technical skills.
Do you think HR would see this the same way? Would me saying "I have no technical skills" screw me over for the job? I want to be honest with the guy that is helping me.
Do you have any advice on how to steer the conversation towards strategy, etc?
Whoops since I'm international, I didn't realize it was Veteran's Day so the guy won't be in the office anyway, I assume it wouldn't be too good to send this on a day off? Wait till Tuesday when he gets in the office?
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